Risk — A Chocolate Bar Name with a Bitter Aftertaste

Those who take a risk have a solid chance of going under because of it. 
Not exactly a tempting prospect. 
And yet, risk holds a far too irresistible appeal for certain personalities to simply leave it alone. 

Free climbers take on the risk of the missing rope. 
And with it, the free fall. 
Which is exactly why they call it free climbing.

Risk itself carries an enormous burden. 
Because the outlook behind this word is, for the most part, anything but cheerful or positive. 
Risk comes loaded with drama, catastrophe, and often death. 
Although — to be fair — the loading isn’t really risk’s own department. 

That’s where those companies come in: the ones that assure - or insure? - their customers they’re in good hands. 
As long as, of course, they sign on the dotted line.

At its core, risk means that a certain future should not come to pass. 
That the possible, suspected, or probable change to the current state of affairs simply doesn’t happen. 
Because that’s when you’d finally be rid of it. 

And yet risk still carries that magical something that attracts not only mountain climbers, tightrope walkers, and race car drivers. 

The magic lies in the possibility that risk can be ambushed — or even defeated. 
Along the lines of: risk opens new doors to potential gain.

Stock market investors could hum a little tune about that, provided humming also gets filed under losses. 

But calculating risk when founding a company, launching an institution, or going through with a wedding — that’s not a bad idea at all. Because the thought that a high-risk project — see above — might only go sideways for other people opens up a tiny window of hope

“Everyone said it couldn’t be done. One person didn’t get the memo and did it anyway.” 

That, more or less, is the magic formula for risk management.

Ah yes, management — the administration of risk. 

That must be quite the thrilling occupation. 
Are risk managers more prone to heart attacks because they spend their days wrestling with imagined and real dangers? 
Probably not. 

Because here, risk isn’t accepted — it’s managed. 
Meaning these people don’t just keep risk in sight, they keep it under control. 
At least, that’s how it’s communicated to the outside world. 
So what exactly do these managers do with risk on every risky day? 
Let’s look over the shoulders of these superheroes, shall we? 

Naturally, their goal is to remove risk from the equation through targeted decisions. 
Risk isn’t destroyed — don’t worry — it’s simply decided to go around it. 
A risk detour, so to speak. 

Slightly less glamorous is the approach of reducing the impact of a risk. 
Through equally targeted measures. 
But wait — reducing? 
What percentage of risk still lands after the reduction? 
Ah, “less, probably.” 

And then there are the everyday heroes who step forward voluntarily — and for good money — to carry the risk. 
To absorb the impact. 
The whole thing, or pieces of it, gets offloaded onto these brave souls. 
Well, look at that: management has solved the risk.

Now we come to the other slightly unhinged ones, who consciously and deliberately take certain risks on. 
Winning or losing is part of the business plan. 
Are these fatalists — or clever people who face the known or suspected risk head-on and call out: “Come on then, give it a shot.”

Bottom line: Risk can be reduced, sidestepped, transferred, or accepted — but never entirely avoided. 

Risk is always an unwelcome companion. Or as the Anglo-Saxons bluntly put it: “No Risk, No Fun!”